Former Senator Jae Spears remembered at capitol

Funeral services are scheduled Saturday for former Randolph County Senator Jae Spears.

The 90-year-old Spears died last Saturday at her home in Elkins.

Mingo County Sen. Truman Chafin, who served with Spears in Charleston, said she had a tremendous career.

“She was a great lady, a lady of stature, a lady of prominence. She served the Senate so well,” Chafin said. “She was just a wonderful person.”

Spears served three terms in the House of Delegates before being elected to the Senate in 1980. She served three terms there and rose to powerful position of Finance Committee chair from 1984-1986, the first woman to do so. She was also the first female majority whip in the Senate.

“She had tremendous insight and great intellect,” Sen. Chafin remembered. “She was very compassionate and very caring. She was a woman of great prominence not only in West Virginia but across the United States and she traveled the world.”

Saturday’s funeral will take place at First United Methodist Church in Elkins.